A Study About Preschool Children Social Competence and Preschool Chidren Externalizing Behavior in the Familiar Context / Um estudo sobre crianças pré-escolares socialmente competentes e crianças pré-escolares com comportamentos exteriorizados no contexto familiar

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2009

RESUMO

The necessity to focus on aspects of the cognitive development, parental stress and family functioning, in researches about social adjustment of preschool children, has emphasized in the literature of social competence and externalizing behavior. Therefore this study aims to describe and compare (a) the cognitive, emotional, social and behavioral characteristics of children social competent (Group A) and with externalizing Behavior (Group B); the parental expectation about academic performance of their children and the aspects of motor, language and social development; (b) the family microsystem of those children, based at parents perception, highlighting the ways of life, the major events, the family functioning and the parental stress. The participants were 32 preschools children and their families being divided as 20 families by Type 1 (the child living with both parents) and 12 by Type 2 (the child living with one parent only). The children were classified by their teachers as social competent (n=18) and with externalizing behavior (n=14). The data collection was done by two places: at school and at families home. At school, the evaluation of childrens cognitive performance consisted in applying two tests of intelligence (Ravens Colorful Progressive Matrices and Columbia). To collect information on socio-demographic data and family relationship, the mothers and fathers answered a questionnaire and participated, separately, in a semi-structured interview. A scale to measure the parental stress index (PSI) was administered to mothers and fathers. As part of the results the social competent and with externalized behavior groups were heterogeneous in relation to the cognitive performance and parental stress. However, the similarities between these groups were about the academic performances evaluation and expectative, conclusion of studies and the importance of being at school; also, the parents of both groups perceived, similarly, aspects of development and the emotional, social and behavioral characteristics. In relation of familiar context, also had similarities between groups A and B, specially about the responsibility by the child care and domestics tasks, by the social support net, social activities, events of family life and the lifes child, the involvement of father and the expectations about this involvement, the satisfaction with families life, by the values, parenting practices and parental stress. For the typology, family types 1 and 2 are more similar in the social competent group than in the externalizing behavior group. About the differences founded, were, in the Group A, concerning to the involvement of the father, to expectations about this involvement; in the Group B, childrens characteristics. Considering the similarities and differences between the groups and types of families, this study provides a more wide-ranging and inclusive comprehension of the externalizing behavior and the social competence of children, to consider not only their individual characteristics, but also aspects of the family system, such as family structure, parental and marital relations and parental stress.

ASSUNTO(S)

crianças pré-escolares competência social família preschool children externalizing behavior social competence family comportamentos exteriorizados psicologia

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

Documentos Relacionados